The Problem with Pets
by Scoobert0
Summary: Sam and Dean help Cas out when demons start coming after his familiars.  Dean/Cas.  2nd in the Angelic Familiar series.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Huzzah! Sequel time! If you haven't read my other fic, Cas Gets a Pet, you should read that one first so as that you understand what's going on here. Anywho, I finally found the time to sit down and at least start writing this, which means I stayed up till 1am working on it. :D Also, you should all go to DeviantArt and check out Akenia; she did some absolutely adorable drawings of Cas and Hilary. Not gonna lie, I squeed when I saw them. Alright, let's get this show on the road, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the duck. ;P**

**Warning: Un-beta'd, all mistakes are mine and I apologize in advance.**

* * *

Dean was stretched out on his motel bed with his laptop on his stomach and his left leg propped up on a couple pillows. As he typed and jotted down notes with his right hand, his left was idly stroking a small white duck. The door to the room opened as Sam walked in carrying a couple bags of food. Pausing, he took in the sight of his brother and huffed a laugh.

"Well look at you. You're doing research and petting the duck. Way to multitask bro."

"Shut-up bitch. It's not like there's anything else I can do, and day time television sucks ass."

"Yeah, well, you're just lucky that Hilary was able to heal your leg as much as she did, otherwise you'd probably be in traction instead of just having a badly bruised bone. Jerk."

The duck in question quacked softly and stretched her wings with a flutter. Hilary had been sticking close to them, well more so Dean, since Castiel returned to fight the war in Heaven. It had been weeks since they had seen or heard from the angel. Hilary had made herself a useful member of their team in that time. It wasn't all smooth sailing though. The first couple days after Cas had left were filled with near constant calls from the duck and Dean yelling for Cas to come pick up his damn duck. They had been forced to spend those nights sleeping in the Impala since there was no way to keep a distressed, teleporting duck locked in the car while they got a motel room (Hilary insisted on being no less than three feet away from Dean at all times and Sam wouldn't let him put a ring of Holy Fire around her).

Eventually she calmed down, so that they could leave her in the car when they ate out and she kept quiet when they were in the motels. As the days and hunts went by, the duck began to grow on the boys. Hilary became a near constant fixture on Sam's shoulder as he did his research. Oddly enough, she helped out sometimes. Sam wasn't sure how she did it. Sometimes she'd bite his ear if he exited a site too fast or skimmed past one in the search engine and only once he'd gone back to the site and read through it, would she let go. And sure enough, those sites were ones that had good portions of information that he was looking for. Dean even seemed to be more comfortable around her. Sam would catch him actually talking to her and sharing his food with her. The older Winchester had even started to let the bird sleep on the pillow next to his at night, without the trouble of locking her in the bathroom only to wake up face-to-face with her the next morning.

Hilary quickly took up the habit of accompanying them on their hunts, using the bit of Cas's Grace that was in her to heal them if they so much as got a scrape. However, they were beginning to notice that she had stopped trying to heal every scrape. They had thought it was because she had learned that she didn't have to heal every little scratch they got. Unfortunately they hadn't actually realized it was because the Grace she harbored was becoming diluted. Not until their last hunt anyways.

They had been hunting a real nasty werewolf and things had gotten out of hand when they finally managed to corner it. The thing had knocked Sam against the side of the ravine they were in, stunning him, before tossing a long, heavy log at Dean. He had stumbled backwards over a different log and gotten his lower leg crushed between the two as he tried to, unsuccessfully, avoid it. Sam had rushed over to help get his big brother unstuck, but was immediately ordered to go after the werewolf. Sam had reluctantly done so, taking some comfort in the fact that Hilary had appeared and sat on Dean's chest. When he came back after finishing the job, Dean had passed out from the pain. Slightly grateful for that, Sam went to work on removing the long on his brother's leg. He gasped when he saw the bloody damage. Hilary immediately sat on the knee of the injured leg, getting as close to it as she could without putting weight on it. How the duck knew not to do that was beyond Sam's comprehension.

After what seemed like ages, Dean's eyes had fluttered open and he tried to get up. That's when they had their wakeup call to Hilary's waning abilities. Dean, expecting to be able to walk with no problems, had immediately collapsed back to the ground as soon as he put weight on his injured leg. Fearing that it was still broken, Sam had ended up carrying a very pissed Dean in a fireman's carry all the way back to the Impala. Once Dean was laid across the back seat with his leg splinted, Sam got in the driver's seat and took off to the nearest hospital. After getting a series of x-rays, the ER doctor there had assured them that Dean's leg was decidedly not broken and that it was just heavily bruised. So now they were following the doctor's orders and just chilling at a motel for a couple days while Dean's leg healed up a bit.

"Anyways, got you your favorite, so come eat it before it gets cold." Sam said, snapping out of his memories, putting the bags on the table as well as a six-pack of beer. He walked past the beds to the sink to get himself a glass of water. Dean grinned as he put his laptop and notes aside and levered himself into a sitting position. He sat there for a moment, eyeing the distance to the table.

"Dude, just use the damn crutches." The taller Winchester scolded without turning around.

"How'd-?"

"Really? You need to ask?"

"Point taken, fine." Dean huffed, reaching for his crutches that were leaned against the night stand. The doctor had suggested them after seeing Dean trying to limp his way out of the ER. Dean hated crutches, but Sam was in mother hen mode and made him use them. He click-clacked his way to the table and shoved the accursed things away as he sat down.

"I hate those things." He mumbled before getting a face full of feathers as Hilary missed her favorite landing zone: the top of his head. He grabbed her swiftly and held her in front of his face.

"Seriously? How many times have we talked about this? If you want French fries, you sit on the table and behave."

Placing the duck on the table, Dean tossed a couple fries in front of her before grabbing his double bacon cheese burger and began decimating it. Same walked over to take his seat with a chuckle.

"Wha' 'o f'nny?" Dean asked, mouth full of delicious goodness.

"You." Was the simple reply. The blond rolled his eyes as he opened a beer. He grabbed a small glass that was sitting on the table and poured some of the amber liquid in it before putting it in front of the duck, who eagerly dipped her beak into it.

"Seriously? You taught the angel duck to drink?"

"She makes a hell of a better drinking buddy than you." It was Sam's turn to roll his eyes.

"So did you find anything new about the whole Grace-infused animal thing?"

"Believe it or not, Shamu started talking to his trainer this morning. Didn't appreciate the guy standing on his nose or something."

"So that's a no then."

"A resounding one at that, little brother. Unfortunately for us, I'm pretty sure the only source of information we got on this stuff is the angels, and they sure as hell aren't talking." Dean crammed the trash from his meal back in the bag. He leaned over to grab his prescription bottle with the pain meds for his leg, and popped some into his mouth before swallowing them with a gulp of beer. Sam stood up and grabbed the empty food bags and threw them in the trash. Sitting down on his bed, he looked over at Dean expectantly.

"What the hell is that look for?" Dean grumbled leaning back in the chair, too lazy to move back to the bed. He reached over and started stroking the feathers on Hilary's wings. The duck made a sound of contentment.

"I know you've tried before, but-" Sam started only to be cut off when glaring green eyes landed on him.

"Dude, I've been praying to Cas to give us some answers for weeks now and gotten no answer. What makes you think tonight's the night?"

"Well, you know, you just never know till you try." The younger Winchester offered sheepishly. Dean sighed heavily and closed his eyes.

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray to Castiel to come give us some God damn answers. This whole being ignored thing is starting to piss me off here. Amen."

The sound of wing beats came from the front of the room, followed by a gruff, "You wished to speak with me?"

Dean turned in his seat to face the angel, his eyes widening at what he saw.

"Oh you have got to be shiting me."

**AN: And cut! I know, I'm a horrible person. :P I promise more Cas in the next chapter. **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Well, I don't know what's going on with this site. I was able to edit my stories today for a short time, but now I can't again. Gr! Anywho, we have Cas and his new "friend" this chapter, fun times are at hand! Just a reminder for everyone, this story is kinda pre-slashy, if you squint. Also, mild drug use, kinda sorta unintentional. Don't do drugs, they're bad. Ok? Ok. Ready, set, read and enjoy!**

"You have got to be shiting me…" Dean groaned again, looking over at Castiel.

"I don't under-" Cas was cut off when Hilary started calling excitedly and flew onto the top of his head. She settled herself and started weaving her beak affectionately through his ruffled hair.

"Hello Hilary, it is good to see you. I hope you've been well." The angel greeted his pet.

"Hate to interrupt your reunion, but what the hell are you holding Cas?" Sam interrupted, gaping like an idiot at the creature in Cas' arms.

The angel stood at the front of the room, duck in place on top of his head and a brown creature with a beak and flat tail held in his arms like a teddy bear.

"He is a platypus."

"Where the hell did you find a platypus, Cas? What's with you and things with bills? Where have you been dude? Do you still like cheeseburgers? Did you know-"

"DEAN!" Sam shouted at his rambling brother. Dean's glazed eyes met his. "Sorry Cas, he's on pain meds. How many did you take man?"

Dean grinned loopily and held up four fingers before crossing his arms on the table and laying his head on them.

"Do you have a death wish or something Dean? That's the good stuff man! If you're in that much pain, you should tell me. There might be something wrong. Why do you always do this?" Sam bitched to his brother, who was clearly high now.

"Dean is injured?" Cas questioned tilting his head to the side, making for a comical picture with a duck on his head and a platypus hanging from his arms. Sam wished he could get a picture of it.

"You're a funny guy." Dean giggled, looking over at the angel.

"Yeah, his leg got crushed on our last hunt, but Hilary was able to heal most of the damage. Doctor said that the bone is just badly bruised now, but it's still pretty painful." Sam explained, moving to his brother's side to help him to his bed. Dean grabbed onto his tall little brother, hugging him around the neck. Sam grunted as he hauled the older man to his feet and clumsily drug him to his bed, tossing him down. Dean tittered, rolling himself onto his other side, grabbing a pillow and clutching it to his chest. Cas walked over next to Sam, looking down at Dean.

"Do you know why Hilary wouldn't heal him all the way?" The angel asked seriously.

"Cause she can't. It's like what happened with Carl, I mean, Victor. The Grace she has is getting weaker cause she hasn't been with you in weeks. We didn't really realize what was happening till Dean got hurt." Sam told him. They stood there in silence, staring at the oldest Winchester as he lay there trying to make spit bubbles. Cas made a noise in his throat before shoving the platypus into Sam's arms.

"Hold him." He commanded, moving closer to Dean.

"No, Cas, hold on! Aren't these things poisonous?" Sam sputtered, moving to put the animal on his bed. Hilary leaped off the angel's head and glided down next to the mammal. Cas turned to face Sam, slight frown on his lips.

"Their venom is not deadly to humans. Regardless, he has a mutation where he does not possess the spurs that deliver it, so you need not worry." He turned back to Dean who had managed to sit up and was watching Cas with half closed eyes.

"Dean, I am going to finish healing your leg now." The angel informed him. Dean smiled lopsidedly and leaned forward, wrapping his arms around Cas' waist and burying his face in his stomach. Castiel squirmed when Dean said something, the vibrations from his voice going through Cas' shirt and tickling his skin.

"What did you say Dean? I did not understand what you said."

Dean pulled his face back a few inches and repeated himself, "I said you smell good Cas." He buried his face in the angel's stomach again. There was a flash and click from the foot of the bed. Cas turned his head to see Sam standing there with his phone out. Sam closed it and smiled sheepishly. Cas returned his attention to the hunter who was currently trying to pull the angel onto the bed. Without another word, Castiel touched two fingers to Dean's temple.

The eldest Winchester slumped against Cas briefly before leaning back slightly. Glancing around, then up at Case, Dean's eyes widened drastically before he scrambled backwards across the bed and away from the other man.

"Jesus Cas! What the hell?" The blond nearly shouted, before realizing that his leg wasn't hurting, "Wait, what?"

He stood up, tentatively putting weight on his bad leg but feeling no shooting pain.

"I finished healing your leg, as well as clensing the drugs from your body." Cas said evenly, turning away to pick Hilary up off Sam's bed and started looking her over.

"Drugs?" Dean asked, looking around in confusion.

"Um, yeah. You took too many pain meds, remember?" Sam asked, concerned that his brother wasn't recalling his recent high. Dean's face scrunched up as he tried to remember the last half hour.

"Well, I never did do good on drugs…" He mused, a half hearted grin on his face. Sam was about to demand an explanation for that statement, but Hilary chose that moment to crash into Dean's chest with force. Hilary landed on the bed and was jumping up and down, calling over and over. They could tell she was in distress about something, but couldn't figure it out. The platypus was on the edge of Sam's bed, facing the door, emanating a growl that was much like a puppy's.

"What's their issue?" Sam asked, perplexed. Cas went and picked up the platypus, holding him up and peering at him. It snapped its bill a few times, wriggling to escape Cas' grip.

"Has Hilary ever acted in this manner before?" Castiel asked, tucking the squirming brown mass of fur under his arm.

"No." Sam said automatically.

"Actually." Dean mumbled, "Remember that hunt we did in Colorado at the beginning of the month? The demon that was possessing the mayor? When we were interviewing him before we realized it was him and Hilary showed up out of nowhere and was spazing out on him."

"I thought that was because she was still pissed about Cas not being around and cause you'd locked her in the trunk."

Dean glanced nervously at Cas to see the angel glaring at him for the mistreatment of his familiar.

"She was super annoying back then!" He whined, just before the motel door burst open. A tall, bulky woman stood in the doorframe, inspecting the room and its occupants.

"I'm here for the familiars." She announced coldly, eyes rolling to white. Sam and Dean exchanged a nervous glance. Of course a demon would have to show up, and of course it would have to be a really powerful one.

"Oh,well that's just awesome." Dean snarked, unconsciously putting himself between the demon and Hilary, "But you realize you have us and an angel to go through to get to them, right?"

The demon laughed as she stalked further into the room. Dean grabbed Hilary and moved farther away from the demon, grabbing Ruby's knife from under his pillow as he went. Sam made to grab the Colt, but ended up with an armful of warmth as Cas shoved the Platypus at him again. The angel strode forward, sword in hand.

"Back off bitch." He threatened, his voice dangerously low. Sam and Dean's attention was drawn away from their enemy to stare at the angel in disbelief at his choice of words. Before either could say anything, the demon launched herself at Cas. He easily batted her away, catching her arm and swinging her around so his fist connected with her face. With an animalistic growl, he impaled her with his blade. The demon's essence flickered in the possessed woman's body as it died. Castiel lowered the body gently to the ground, placing his hand over the wound he had made and healed it. Standing, he addressed the boys.

"She'll live, but we should leave soon. Before she wakes." He retrieved the platypus from Sam's limp grasp and extended a hand for Hilary to fly onto. Ignoring the hand, the duck landed directly on the angel's head.

Brain catching up to current events, Dean chuckled.

"What is amusing about this situation?" Cas demanded.

"Dude, you called her a bitch. Never thought I'd hear you swear again, you know, being a full angel again and all. What made you say that anyways?"

Cas dropped his gaze to his shoes and was silent for a moment, "I… It seemed to be the appropriate thing to say. I have observed you saying such things when someone makes a threat against Sam. I suppose you can say I am fiercely protective of my familiars."

"Hold up." Sam interjected, "Familiars? As in more than one? As in Hilary and the platypus?"

"Yes. I had thought that would be obvious."

Both Sam and Dean sat down with a sigh, each rubbing a hand over their face.

"Oh boy…"

"You know what that means." Dean spoke up, a cheerful grin on his face. Sam eyed him suspiciously.

"What?"

"We have to come up with a name for Mr. Platypus here."

**AN: Woohoo! Platypuses are cool! (Platypi? I don't know) I also cracked myself up when I had Cas swear, because it's cute! In an adorable dorky way, which makes it funny. And Dean on an unintentional high is fun to write. Also, I've found Hilary's theme song: h t t p : /www. youtube. com/ watch?v=VRWxlYXS6W0**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hello once again Audience. (if you know who I'm stealing that from, you are awesome) Anywho, had an awesome day finishing this chapter, had lots of fun writing it. Shout out the **The Lilac Elf of Lothorien **for coming up with the awesome-tastic idea for the platypus' name. Pure. Genius. Oh, and a minor spoiler from 6.15 The French Mistake, but nothing that wasn't included in the promo, so yeah. Alright, let's get this road trip started! As always, enjoy!**

"I say he needs a weird name, like Sheldon or something, since he's a platypus and they're weird." Dean told Sam while he packed his duffle. Sam rolled his eyes in response.

"There is no need for you to come up with a name for him, Dean. I have already done that." Castiel said from where he sat at the table, watching the boys pack their belongings. In his lap sat the platypus and on its back sat Hilary. Cas' hands absently petted both of them.

"What'd you decide to call him then?" Sam asked, looking up from what he was doing.

"Jensen."

"What the hell kind of name is that?" Dean asked scrutinously.

"You mean like the actor that played Dean in that alternate universe?" Sam suggested. Cas tilted his head in confusion. "You know what, never mind. Where'd you come up with Jensen? It's not a very common name."

"I… Am unsure. It seemed appropriate."

"Jensen the platypus and Hilary the duck. Wow do you suck at picking names Cas." Dean hefted his duffle over his shoulder and picked up the weapons bag, "Alright, I think that's everything Sammy. We're going to head to Bobby's, in case you need us for something. And uh, thanks for healing my leg all the way. Later Cas." He finished quickly before rushing out of the room. Sam picked his bag up and started following his brother, but stopped in front of Cas.

"So, uh, good to see you again Cas. You, uh, know what you're doing yet? Are you gonna leave Hilary and the platypus, I mean, Jensen with us? You have any idea why that demon was after your familiars? You want us to do some research on it? I should really stop talking now…"

Castiel smiled slightly at Sam's barrage of questions, "I was hoping to consult Bobby's library for reasons as to why demons would need an angel's familiar, so there is no need for you and Dean to watch after Hilary and Jensen."

"Oh, ok. I don't think Bobby would mind letting you take a look through what he has. But, being an angel and all, shouldn't you know what they could use an angel's familiar for?"

"No. Angelic familiars are a rare thing and there is no definite understanding how they are chosen. The last known familiar was when Adam and Eve were still free to roam the Garden."

"Whoa. Alright then. So, uh, you wanna ride with us then?"

"I would not mind that. But first I have something I must take care of." With that, Cas disappeared to the sound of fluttering wings. Sighing, Sam left the room and headed over to the Impala. He tossed his duffle next to Dean's in the open trunk and closed it before getting in the passenger's seat. Dean was already behind the wheel, going through his cassette collection.

"What took ya? You and Cas have to kiss each other good-bye or something?"

"Huh, I thought that was your area of expertise?" Sam jibbed. Dean's cheeks burned red as he glared at his brother.

"Hey! I was completely smashed when that happened, doesn't mean anything! We still going to Bobby's?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah. And Cas is going to come too he said. He wants to see if Bobby has anything on why demons would need an angel's familiar."

"Is he just winging it there or is he driving with us?"

"Not sure. He said he was going to ride with us, but then he said he had something to do and disappeared."

"I swear to God, if he pops in here while I'm driving, I will find a way to kick his feathery, nerdy ass." Dean grumbled, turning the keys in the ignition and bringing his baby to life. With the radio blasting, they pulled out of the motel parking lot.

* * *

About two hours away from Bobby's, Cas finally showed up. They were stopped at a gas station getting fuel (gas for the Impala and food for themselves) and taking care of other pressing needs. Dean bent over to remove the pump from the back of the Impala and jumped when he stood up and nearly bumped into Castiel.

"Jesus Cas!" He yelped, grabbing his chest, "You're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days. Seriously need to get you a damn bell."

The angel moved to let Dean past before following him into the small market. Going down one of the isles he stopped and stared intently at all the different kinds of candy while Dean gathered some drinks and snacks for him and Sam. When he came back to Cas, the man was still looking at all the colorful wrappers and boxes.

"You want something?"

"I do not req-"

"Yeah, I know. But I also know that you _can_ eat, so take it for the guilty pleasure we bother know you consider it, and grab something. Meet me up at the cash register, but don't take forever."

Dean left the angel and went to pay for the snacks and gas where Sam joined him. A minute later Cas walked up with a bag of licorice and one of jelly beans. Sam quirked an eyebrow and looked back and forth between the two.

"What, I told him to get something. That it Cas?" The smaller man nodded, handing the bags to Dean. After paying for everything with one of their fake credit cards, they exited the store. As they were walking to the car, Dean suddenly got a face full of white feathers and ended up falling on his butt. In his lap was a quacking, obviously happy, Hilary. She nibbled on his jeans when she wasn't bobbing her head up and down excitedly. Dean couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him as he grabbed her and picked himself up off the ground.

"I think you missed your target there sweetheart. Where'd you come from anyways?" He asked, looking around before scowling at his laughing brother and handing the duck off to her respectful owner, "What's so funny bitch?"

"You just got taken out by a duck dude, what you think is so funny? Oh man, I wish I could have videotaped that. Hey Cas, where'd you put Jensen at?"

Sam asked, opening the passenger door. He was about to slid in when a loud growl caused him to jump and stumble backwards. Looking at the seat, Jensen sat there starring at him, snapping his bill.

"In the car." Cas simply said, waking over to pick the brown creature up.

"Yeah, got that much." Sam mumbled, sitting down in the now vacant seat.

Dean was laughing as he opened the door for Cas to get in the back seat, and tossed his candy in after him before shutting the door. He climbed into the driver's seat and glanced at the rearview mirror to watch Cas grab the bag of jelly beans.

"You need help opening that?" The only response he got was a glare as the angel opened the bag and took out a single piece of candy and inspected it. Smiling, he threw the Impala into drive and took off.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Dean was checking the rearview for traffic when he noticed Cas was still staring at the same jelly bean.

"C'mon Cas, don't play stupid. We all know that you know how to eat. Just stick it in your mouth. You shouldn't have to worry about any bad flavors, you got the Starburst kind, those are awesome."

Castiel gave the candy one last look before slowly putting it in his mouth and chewing. His eyes widened suddenly.

"Uh-oh, don't like them?" Sam asked, watching the event unfold. The angel shook his head and swallowed.

"These are… Amazing." He hummed as he put another in his mouth.

"Better than cheese burgers?" Dean asked, glancing back again to see Cas placing another jelly bean on his tongue. He subconsciously bit his bottom lip lightly before shaking himself.

"Yes, I believe so." The angel concluded, another jelly bean disappearing into his mouth. Hilary started quacking softly as she got up from her spot next to Cas and jumped into his lap, earning a growl from Jensen, who was already there. The two familiars snapped their beaks at each other, making a strange combination of noises.

"Hey you two, knock it off or so help me God I will pull this car over and kick you out." Dean threatened after the squabbling had gone on for several minutes.

"My Father had nothing to do with this Dean." Castiel chided, coming out of his candy induced trance.

"Oh hey, welcome back from Candy Mountain Cas. Get your pets to shut up; they're annoying as all hell."

Cas opened his mouth to question the reference, but caught Sam shaking his head and closed it. Grabbing two jelly beans, he offered on to each of the animals. The noise died down as they each tentatively nibbled on the candy. When finished, two pairs of eyes stared up at the angel, silently asking for more. Moving them to either side of him, Cas placed a small handful of Jelly beans in front of them before retuned to putting one piece of candy in his mouth at a time.

"Careful giving them sticky foods Cas, their beaks could get stuck together." Sam cautioned.

"Currently, that's a good thing." Dean joked, "Hey Sammy, hand me my M&M's will ya? I want candy now."

They all munched their candy (or carrots in Sam's case) in peace for almost an hour before Cas leaned forward over the front seat holding a tube of licorice.

"Whoa Cas! What do you think you're doing? Sit down; we could get pulled over for your antics." Dean shouted at him. Cas made no effort to sit down, instead he held up the licorice in front of Dean's face.

"How does one eat these?"

"Uh, you put one end in your mouth and eat it dude."

"He got pull-n-peel Twizzlers." Sam informed him, looking in the back at the bag.

"You can still eat those normal." Dean argued, swatting at Cas' hand that still held the Twizzler in his face.

"I wish to see how you would eat this." Cas demanded, shaking the licorice in his face.

"Fine." He grabbed the candy and put one end in his mouth. Unceremoniously, he slurps the whole thing into his mouth and chews it before swallowing. Glancing to the side he sees Cas is still staring at him intently, and he feels his face heating up before Sam chastises his Twizzler eating abilities.

"Dude, that's gross. That's also not how you're supposed to eat the pull-n-peel ones. Here Cas, hand me one."

Cas does so and watches Sam as he unravels one small string at a time. When Sam finished the candy, Cas slumped back into his seat, grabbing his own piece and unravels it. Dean glances at the rearview to see Cas stare at the strings briefly before slurping one up like Dean had.

"I believe this way works best." Castiel declared, slurping up another piece. Sam and Dean exchange a glance before shaking their heads and laughing. They start laughing even harder when they hear Jensen making excited noises similar to those of a puppy.

"I think I will require more candy." Cas states, feeding the platypus pieces of licorice.

"It appears that the sweet tooth runs in your family." Sam observed. Cas tilts his head in question, "Gabriel was a chocolate fiend." He clarifies, then wishes he hadn't said anything when sadness flashes in the angel's eyes briefly.

"Just do what he did and snap some into existence." Dean suggests. Blue eyes squint slightly in concentration before Cas raises his hand and snaps his thumb and middle finger together. The back seat is suddenly filled with various kinds of candy ranging from dark chocolates to lemon heads. Hilary quacks loudly from under the sweets before teleporting herself to the relative safety of Dean's lap. Sam shakes his head when he looks back and sees Jensen rolling in all the candy.

"Aw crap, we've created a monster." Dean grumbles before looking at Cas in the rearview again, "That had better be all gone by the time we get to Bobby's and none of it had better get on the upholstery!"

Cas nodded as he unwrapped a Crunch bar and took a bite out of it.

**AN: Guess who had a candy craving while writing this chapter? :) Bobby shows up next chapter and I also have a HUGE surprise planned too. (hopefully I can fit it into the next chapter, if not, it will most certainly be in the chapter after that) And since I love involving you all in the writing process, what kind of ability should Jensen the platypus have? Should he talk? Should he lay golden eggs? Oh the possibilities!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Omg, Akenia has done it again! Super cute drawings of all the familiars mentioned so far. **

**h t t p : / / akenia. deviantart. com/ #/ d3dbkhj (You know the drill, take out the spaces and such) **

**Beginning of the chapter is inspired by a chapter in Styx88's A Million little things as well as a part from The Adventures of Soul-less Cas comic over on DeviantART. Also, I can't tell you how many times I typed Booby instead of Bobby this chapter. XP Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

Bobby was standing on this porch with his arms crossed over his chest when the Impala pulled up. Sam tried waving but received a glare in return.

"Uh-oh." He murmured, Dean cocked an eyebrow at him, "Bobby's pissed about something."

"Great, now we have to deal with a pissed Bobby and an angel on a sugar high. When I said all the candy had to be gone by the time we got here, I didn't mean you had to _eat_ all of it Cas!" He turned to face the angel who was sitting straight as a board with his hands on his knees in the back seat, eyes as big as dinner plates and literally vibrating. His line of vision was interrupted by a mass of brown floating past his face before Jensen bumped into the ceiling of the car and started sinking to the floor.

"Guess we know what his special power thing is." Sam commented as he watched the platypus start rising again.

"Kinda like a really bad version of Willy Wanka and the Chocolate Factory." Dean mused, grinning when Castiel moaned at the mention of chocolate before the angel seemingly vibrated into thin air. Dean clapped his hands together, making Sam jump a little, "Well, we'd better go see what Bobby's so mad about before he comes and drags us out of the car." He opened his door and climbed out. Sam followed his lead. Putting on a big grin, Dean addressed the older hunter, "Heya Bobby, What's up?"

"You two idjits want to explain to me why there's a damn llama and a Brad Pitt look-a-like angel waiting for you in my house?" He growled, un crossing his arms.

"Brad Pitt look-a-like?" Dean asked confused.

"Well I'm flattered, really, I am." Came a cultured voice as Balthazar appeared next to Bobby. Victor was suddenly in front of the boys, sticking his nose in each of their faces before loping off to the Impala, where Hilary and Jensen were soaking up the sun on the hood. All signs pointed to them having passed out after their sugar rush.

"So where is our dear little Cassie at? I can only assume that he was with you since Hilary is here. What's this I've heard of him finding another familiar by the way?" The blond angel rambled casually, taking a sip of the brandy in his hand. A small growl came from behind him and he turned to observe the source.

"Oh you have got to be joking." Balthazar chuckled.

"Yeah, that's Jensen. Looks like he can teleport too. Great." Sam observed, starting to move towards the house but stopping when he heard Dean talking.

"Cas, what are you doing?"

Turning, he saw that Cas had appeared next to Dean and was rubbing his face against his brother's.

"Rubbing. I overheard two teenagers discussing it awhile ago." The dark haired angel stated.

"Uh, this isn't the kind of rubbing they were talking about, Cas. This is how a cat rubs."

Pulling away from Dean, Cas hissed at him and disappeared. He reappeared next to Balthazar, who started petting his hair and smirked over at Dean.

"There, there Cassie."

"What in Sam's hell did you do to that angel now?" Bobby asked, glaring at Sam and Dean.

"Nothing, we just got him some candy and then he snapped up some more." Dean said, holding his hands up in defense.

"Yeah, but you're the one who told him it had to be gone before we got to Bobby's. You know he takes everything literally." Sam argued.

"Wow, tattle much Sammy?"

"Maybe if you weren't such a jerk all the time."

"What's that bitch?"

"I said you're an asshole Dean."

"Why I oughta-!"

"Boys! Quit acting like a couple of teenage princesses and get your gear and asses in the house." Bobby ordered, tuning and heading inside. The two humans stood for a moment before heading back to the Impala.

"Heya Carl." Dean said, patting the llama lightly on the neck as he passed him. He received a loud 'hmmmmm' in return.

"His name is Victor, you monkey!" Balthazar's voice called from the porch.

"God damn angels." Dean grumbled, none too quietly.

After they each grabbed their duffels, Sam grabbed the weapon bag while Dean picked up Hilary, who was still on the hood of the Impala. Victor followed them as they made their way back to the house and proceeded to follow them inside. After getting their stuff situated in the guest room, they walked into the library and see Bobby and Balthazar, but no Castiel.

"Cassie went to go burn off a little energy." Balthazar explains, noticing the brothers' wondering gazes. Hilary let out a low quack before teleporting herself onto Dean's head. Bobby sat at his desk eyeing Jensen, who was staring back at him.

"Somebody want to explain what's going on with the whole magical animal thing?" The oldest hunter asked.

"Uh, well, they're actually angelic familiars." Sam explained, "All we know is that they have some sort of connection with certain animals. The animal inherits some sort of angelic ability while the angel's Grace gets stronger."

"That sounds a bit foreboding."

"How's that?" Dean asked, sitting down on the couch, "Cas has two familiars now, and I wouldn't put it past him to be looking for more. Anything to give him an even bigger edge over that douchebag Raphael."

"Think about it, boy. If Cas is out looking to collect familiars like those damn Pokémon things, don't you think that damned archangel is doing the same?"

"How do you know what Pokémon are Bobby?" Sam asked out of context. The hunter just glared at him while Dean laughed at the question.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about Raphie shopping around for familiars." Balthazar sips at his refilled drink, "He's not a huge fan of coming to Earth, especially now with his new vessel. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that he doesn't even realize the possibilities of having a familiar, since most angels don't think the bond exists anymore, that it's an old wives' tale. I mean, look at Cassie. He didn't even realize sweet ol' Hilary here was his familiar until I straight up told him she was."

"I guess that makes sense…" Bobby murmured, eyeing the llama, "So I take it that llama is your familiar then, Brad."

"Yes, Victor has been my familiar for several years. Ever since I started slumming it down here, actually." Balthazar said as he extended his cup toward Victor, who stuck his nose in the glass and finished off the brandy. Hilary perked up while watching and quacks loudly. A bottle of beer and a cup suddenly appear in Dean's hands. The duck hoped down from his head, to his shoulder, then landed in his lap. He chuckled at her and opened the bottle.

"I like your thinking, duck." He poured some out into the glass and held it for her as he took a swig from the bottle. Bobby grunted as he got up and went into the kitchen, returning with a beer for Sam and a cup and bottle of whiskey for himself. Sitting down at his desk again, he poured out a good measure of the drink. Jensen was staring at him again. His tail started to slowly thump on a book as he watched Bobby quickly finish the drink.

"I think somebody wants some." Sam joked, watching.

"Fine." Bobby growled, pulling out a shallow bowl from behind the desk ad pouring some Jameson's for the platypus, who squealed before lapping up the liquid excitedly.

"Reminds me of Sam the first time I took him out to drink with his fake ID." Dean reminisced with a laugh.

"Oh come on, I wasn't that bad." Sam complained, but not without a grin.

"So Bobby, do you think you have anything about why a demon would need to kidnap an angel's familiar? Or any kind of familiar for that matter?" Sam asked.

"I don't know anything about angelic familiars, but I have some stuff on them in general we could look through." The older hunter said, pouring out more whiskey for himself and Jensen.

"Hold on, a demon went after Hilary and Jensen?" Balthazar asked, his concern evident.

"Yeah, yesterday afternoon. Stupid bitch did it while Cas was still there and got her ass kicked." Dean accounted with pride, inspecting his beer that had just refilled itself. Shrugging, he poured some more for Hilary.

"What's the big deal if a demon goes after an angel's familiar?" Bobby asked, "If the angel has more kick to their mojo from what I'm understanding, and the animals even have angelic powers; How's a demon going to be a threat? I'm not finding a problem here."

"While a familiar makes us stronger and grants our counterparts powers, the bond is still a weakness to be attacked. Even with the raised awareness and resilience to most attacks from harboring our Grace, one could easily kill an angel's familiar with the right ritual." Balthazar disclosed.

"Alright. It'd be a shame to look something that boosts your powers and all, but I'm still not seeing why this is such a big deal." Bobby said plainly. Balthazar glowered at the older hunter, slamming his glass on a table before appearing in front of Bobby and getting in his face.

"The big bloody deal about this is that an angel's Grace is connected to their familiar's life force, even when we are in heaven. If our familiar is killed, so is the part of our Grace they harbor. The best way I can come up with how to describe it to you is what it would feel like having one of your limbs cut off suddenly and without warning. Excruciatingly painful. Then you would be left with the knowledge that you've lost a part of yourself and will never be able to get it back. _That_ is how big of a deal it is, Robert Singer." The angel didn't yell, but instead his voice was quiet and lethal when he finished speaking. Everyone was quiet for several minutes after that.

"Well somebody's got their panties in a bunch." Dean remarked sarcastically, instantly breaking the tension that had filled the room. Balthazar sighed as he moved away from Bobby and back to his never empty cup of brandy that Victor was still drinking from.

"You could have just explained it nicely." Bobby mumbled. Balthazar scoffed before answering.

"Yes, I suppose could have."

"Wow, and I thought Dean and I were bad." Sam murmured loudly, making everyone smile slightly.

Suddenly there was a loud crash from the kitchen followed by loud laughter.

"Looks like Cassie's back." The blond angel said, sipping from his drink.

"Idjit angel had better of not broken anything." Bobby growled, downing his whiskey.

It soon became evident that Castiel wasn't the only one in the kitchen when two different vocal tones reached everyone in the library. A round of worried glances was exchanged.

"Did Cas say anything about brining someone back with him?" Sam asked.

"He did mummer something incoherent about finding someone." Balthazar recalled. Just then a small white and black dog ran into the room, barking excitedly.

"Oh great, he found another one. Well, at least it's something normal this time." Sam said hopefully.

Cas came skipping, literally skipping, into the room and crashed onto Dean's lap, earning a quack of irritation from Hilary before she teleported over by Jensen.

"What the hell Cas?" Dean asked, sounding more concerned than angry.

"F'nd 'im." Cas giggled, nuzzling into Dean's thigh. Not that Dean would ever admit it, but he kinda liked how clingy and touchy-feely Cas was acting.

"Found who- OH MY GOD!"

"Not quiet, but thanks for the compliment, Dean-O. Looking good Sammy!"

Everyone stared in shock at the angel who was now leaning against the door frame, cocky smirk firmly in place.

"Miss me?" Gabriel asked smugly.

**AN: Hell yeah, Gabriel! And Balthazar and Victor are back too! I may or may not be having too much fun writing this story. Not that I'm complaining or anything. :P**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Enough of these slight pretexts of slash! I nutted up and got to the heart of the matter this chapter. Someone comes to terms with his feelings while the other is... awkward. Oh how I love Gabe. Having him in the story made this sooooooooo much easier to write than I originally thought. Not a ton of familiar action this chapter, but I'll be sure to make up for it next time. Fun fact: I ended up writing a quarter of this chapter left handed in the first draft (I write everything in a notebook before typing it up). Ok, let's get to the good stuff, shall we? Enjoy!**

"Admit it, you missed me." Gabriel chortled, arms spread as though he was expecting a hug. The small white and black dog was jumping on his leg, trying to get into those arms.

"But Lucifer killed you!" Sam finally managed to choke out.

"Ha! Knew you'd miss me Sammy boy. And yeah, he did. Hope you appreciated that, stung something fierce." The archangel grumbled, rubbing his belly. He bent down and picked the dog up, tossing him in the air and catching him again.

"How is it you're alive then?" Dean asked dumbstruck, his hand idly stroking Cas' hair. The angel leaned into the touch.

"Pete here." Gabe stated, indicating the dog, "Steve and Louis too." The humans in the room gave him an awkward look.

"Those are the names of your familiars then, sir?" Balthazar inquired.

"Yup. You're… Bartleby right? Or was it Beatlejuice? You know what, I don't remember. What's your name?"

"Balthazar, sir."

"Ick, don't 'sir' me. It was annoying while I was in Heaven and it's still annoying now. Anyways, I see you got a familiar too. Don't know if anyone's ever said anything, but you don't really seem like the llama type dude." The Trickster joked, suddenly appearing next to Dean and Cas on the couch, "So, you two got something you want to tell me?"

Dean suddenly realized what he was doing and his hands instantly stopped. Cas growled at him, but he ignored him and reached for his gun. Finding it gone, he looked up at Gabriel who was twirling it in his hand.

"Rude." The angel pouted.

"You mind explaining exactly how you're not dead anymore." Bobby asked, entering the conversation.

"Have these two kids not explained the whole angel familiar thing to you yet?" Gabriel asked disbelieving.

"They've only explained some of it to us." Sam explained, sitting down and looking expectantly at the Trickster.

"Figured. Well, basically, if an angel has a familiar and they're killed, they can rebuild themselves using the Grace that's left with said familiar. That can take awhile sometimes though, depends on how many familiars you have and whatnot."

"Is that why you haven't been around at all?" Sam asked.

"Pfffffft, no. It only took me a little over eight months to put myself back together. Granted I was totally out of practice. I took a little vacation after that. Being killed and putting yourself back together is exhausting." Gabe leaned back on the couch, and seeing the looks Sam and Bobby were giving him he added, "Ok, so I may have also gotten myself stuck on a different plane, the Plane of Suck to be exact. Sue me will ya. Even I make mistakes."

"The Plane of Suck? Haven't exactly heard of that one." Balthazar mused amusedly. Cas grunted in agreement from Dean's lap.

"I don't know what it's actually called; all I know is that it was really white and really boring. Therefore it sucked." Gabriel huffed, standing up and snapping a lollipop into existence and popping it in his mouth, "Now if you losers will excuse us; Dean, Cas and I need to have a little chat in private."

With another snap of the fingers, the three men disappeared. To everyone's dismay, Hilary started calling continuously when Dean and/or Cas didn't reappear after a few moments. Jensen teleported himself to Sam's lap, to the hunter's dismay, and started whining as well.

* * *

Dean's feet hit something solid, and unable to keep his balance, he fell down on his ass. Looking around, he found himself surrounded by white and nothing else. Panic swelled in his chest briefly before he pushed it down.

"Cas? Gabriel?" He called out loudly. He was immediately glomped by Cas, who appeared out of nowhere. The angel cackled madly before jumping up and running off with his hands in the air.

"Woooow. And here I thought he was crashing." Gabriel mused from behind Dean. He looked over his shoulder up at the archangel. Gabe was watching Castiel's antics with a fond grin on his face.

"So for as big of an ass as you were to him, you actually care about him." Dean prompted, knowing that same look had played over his face many times over the years of watching Sam grow up. Gabriel smirked at the comment.

"Yeah, guess I do. He's a good kid. Stubborn as all hell, but his heart's in the right place. Which is why we're having this talk." Gabe sat down in front of Dean and fixed him with a hard look.

"Uh, ok… What talk?" Dean asked, feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden. Well, more uncomfortable than he already was about being relatively alone with Gabriel.

"Don't tell me you haven't had any… Extra fluffy feelings for my little bro over there."

Dean shifted his weight nervously before responding.

"And what do you know about my feelings? I thought you said you've been stuck in that Plane of Suck place since you put yourself back together." He said to avoid giving a direct answer.

"Just because I was stuck here physically doesn't mean I didn't find ways to know what was going on everywhere else. Dad knows I was bored enough to figure out how to peep in on other Planes and dimensions. And yeah, I spent a good deal of time keeping an eye on you chuckleheads. So, even if you won't admit it, I've seen the way you've been ogling little Cassie over there the last couple months. I'm just here to give you the customary big brother "I'll-rip-your-balls-off-and-dip-them-in-radioactive-waste-and-cram-them-so-far-down-your-throat-you-shit-them-out-and-get-cancer-as-a-bonus" speech if you treat him wrongly or take advantage of him. Now nut up and go tell him how you really feel already!" Gabriel encouraged, ending his monologue. Dean sat there staring at Gabe with wide eyes, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. How the hell did this angel know what he himself was only just beginning to realize? Gabe quirked an eyebrow at him in amusement. He finally regained enough brain function to formulate a sentence.

"What if he doesn't feel the same way?" He found himself asking in a whisper. Gabriel just grinned at him.

"Dude, I can't tell you the number of times I've caught that kid checking up on you when he wasn't in the middle of a battle with Raphael's army. If it weren't for the stupid civil war in Heaven, I'm pretty sure he'd be stalking you cause he'd be too shy to admit his feelings directly to you. That is if we're gonna give him the benefit of the doubt about him actually knowing what he's feeling for you. Regardless, he fell from Grace for you, Dean. Ya think he'd have done that if he didn't feel for you what you're finally feeling for him? C'mon man, I mean, I knew you were dumb but this is just ridiculous."

"Not cool dude." Dean growled, before grinning and watching Castiel creating giant bubbles and chasing after them. His grin vanished as he turned back to the Trickster, a serious expression on his face.

"What about the whole dude being with another dude thing? Don't think your Dad would appreciate that much, especially with one of his angels."

"Puh-leeeeeease! That whole anti-homosexual shpeel is a totally human thing, made up by the first religious leaders and what not. Dad accepts any and all forms of love for what it is; love. As redundant as it sounds, he loves love. The man was a romantic, why do you think he made a whole class of angels to wed souls? Now, quit looking for excuses and being such a pussy and go tell him! Otherwise I'm gonna and I'm pretty sure you don't want me doing that." Gabriel finished, deliberately standing up slowly as Dean frantically scrambled to his feet. Taking a moment to orientate himself in the solid whiteness that was the Plane of Suck, his eyes sought out the nerd angel. He didn't have to search long before Cas was suddenly in front of him and too close. Dean took a step back and gaped when he looked the angel up and down.

Castiel was bare foot and where his shoes were was anyone's guess. He had the arms of the trench coat tied around his neck while the rest of it hung down his back like a cape. The sleeves of his white dress shirt were rolled up past his elbows and the back of it was hanging out of his pants. The tie was around his head, keeping his socks in place and upright above his ears. To top it all off, he had Jimmy's bright orange briefs on over his pants. Dean could do little more than stare in shock.

"Wha-"

"I am the superhero known as Batman. Sam had said he was your favorite. Am I doing the character justice?" Cas asked, his voice it's typical gruff monotone.

"Uh, yeah, actually." Dean managed to mumble before a huge grin lit Cas' features and he took off running, the trench coat flapping behind him. Dean could have sworn he heard the angel making 'woosh'ing noises as he went.

"You know what, why don't you wait for him to come down from that sugar high to tell him." Gabriel offered, gaping as much as Dean was at the younger angel's antics.

"Yeah." Dean breathed, "You think you could maybe mojo him out of it? He's starting to freak me out."

"Could, but I don't wanna. Poor guy needs to let loose more often."

"S'pose you're right. Can you at least take us home? This place sucks." Dean groaned, stumbling as he tried to walk away without knowing where and what was solid in this Plane.

"Tell me about it. And no. Do you really want to let Cas embarrass himself in front of everyone? He should be crashing soon anyways."

"Fine. Can we at least find something to do, like poker? Hell, I'll even play Go Fish at this point." Dean moaned. He stopped and turned around, only to receive a good whack to the jaw and a face full of feathers. One hand flew to his bruised jaw while the other reached out to stop the mass of white that had just hit him.

"Damn it Hilary, that hurt!" He complained. The duck paid no mind as she teleported herself to his head and started nuzzling him.

"That duck is freaking awesome!" Gabriel declared from where he was sitting again, surrounded by three animals.

"What the hell is that?" Demanded Dean, pointing to a small gray creature with what looked like armor.

"What, Steve? He's an armadillo, dufus. You've already met Pete here." The angel petted the small white and black terrier, "And this is Louis. He's a Honey Badger. Reminds me of you most the time, actually."

The, what looked like a fusion of an overgrown weasel and a skunk, curled its lips up and snarled at him.

"Yup, just like you."

"You know what, bite me Gabriel."

"Sorry, not my job. Go ask Cas about that. He's probably all sorts of kinky once you get past that act of pure innocence thing he's got going on." Gabe grinned as he held up a deck of cards, "We playing or what Winchester?"

"Fine." Dean grumbled before sitting down in front of the archangel and away from the pissy badger thing, "Deal up."

**AN: Well? How was it? Getting slashy enough for everyone? Remember, this is my first time attempting slash, so any suggestions and advice is most welcomed! :) **

**For more information on the Plane of Suck, look up page 148 of Looking for Group. It's easily one of the most epic webcomics ever, in my opinion. Also, the idea of one of Gabe's familiars being a Honey Badger came from this video h t t p : / / www. youtube. Com / watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg** **I just had to after watching it. :P **


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Sorry it's been longer than usual; the fluff just wasn't coming out like it should have. So I am excited about this chapter, you'll find out why. And did anyone else remember that there was a plot to this whole story? Not gonna lie, I kinda got caught up in the fluff and forgot myself. But it's going to start kicking at the end of this chapter, so yeah. :P Enjoy! **

**And Akenia has done it once more; she drew Cas in his Batman getup and it's absolutely perfect. H t t p : / / akenia. deviantart. com/#/d3emr59**

A loud, shrill quack echoed across the white vastness of the Plane of Suck.

"Alright, alright! You caught me. Again." Gabriel whined, throwing the card he was trying to swap out to the side. He had several crescent shaped bruises on his hands from where Hilary had bitten him for trying to cheat.

"Good girl Hilary." Dean praised the duck, stroking one of her wings.

"Wouldn't have thought you'd have taught her to be a stickler for rules." Gabe told Dean, who shrugged.

"I've always been good at poker, so I've never really had reason to cheat. Didn't see any point in teaching her too."

"I still think it's funny how she kicked Louis' ass. He's never been afraid of anything, being a Honey Badger and all." The animal in question was peeking out from behind the archangel and glaring at Hilary.

"She is quiet the badass. Kinda like her… What do you guys refer to yourselves for them? Owners? Masters? Parents?" Dean asked, looking at his new hand of cards and throwing down a couple chips.

"You know, that's a good question. Never really thought about it. I guess guardian or protector is the best way to describe it." Gabriel frowned at his hand before throwing the cards down, "Fold."

Pete was sniffing at the cards in front of him before he grabbed some chips with his mouth and moved them to the pile in-between all the players, yipping as he sat down. Hilary tilted her head back and forth, looking down at her cards. Using her bill she moved a medium stack of chips from the many surrounding her to the middle.

"Seriously? You guys are ridiculous." The Trickster grumbled, reaching over and grabbing Steve. The armadillo curled into a ball before Gabe spun him like a basketball on his finger. He gently caught him before he stopped spinning and put him in his lap. Steve uncurled himself slowly, his thin tail wagging slowly. At the sound of wings, Dean looked up to his right and saw Castiel standing there swaying dangerously.

"Whoa Cas! You alright there?" He asked, jumping to his feet to steady the angel. Cas chose that moment to fully crash, and the most literal way. The hunter let out a surprised cry as the angel's entire weight fell on him and knocked him to the ground on his ass. Lying stunned beneath Cas' surprising weight, Dean hardly noticed when Gabe snapped a picture.

"Dude, you have got to lay off the burgers." He muttered, trying to push the other man off himself and failing, "A little help here maybe?" He asked Gabriel. The angel smirked at him before snapping his fingers. Cas disappeared from on top of Dean and reappeared next to Gabe. The archangel pressed two fingers to his forehead and stood up.

"Alright, he should wake up in a couple minutes. I'm going to take the kids here and go have a play date or something. Gimme a jingle when you're done confessing your un-dying love for each other and we'll blow this popsicle stand. Chao!" With that, Gabriel and the familiars disappeared, before Dean could roll his eyes at the statement.

He suddenly found himself ever so alone with Cas. Pacing, Dean tried to come up with a way to tell the angel how he feels about him, without sounding, well, gay. That thought stopped him in his tracks. He, Dean Winchester; womanizer and man-whore, was gay for an angel. And even more amazing than that thought, was the realization that he was totally ok with that. He was suddenly glad that they were alone, no Sam, Bobby or other angels around. He was brought out of his musings when Cas started slowly coming to. The angel sat up slowly with a groan and looked around.

"What happened?" He asked after locking eyes with Dean.

"You were just on the craziest sugar high I have ever seen dude." Dean chuckled, moving to sit down in front of Cas, "You're head killing you at all?"

The angel squinted his eyes in thought for a moment, "No, I am not currently experiencing any pain."

"Awesome, Gabe must have taken care of that then."

"That was real?" Castiel asked, actual excitement in his gravelly voice, "Gabriel is alive?"

"Uh, yeah. You ditched us to go get him, remember?"

"I-I was unsure if that had actually happened. There… I… Some strange things occurred while I was in that altered state of mind." The angel admitted, looking down at his hands in his lap.

Taking a deep breath, Dean reached over and grabbed one of Cas' hands in his own. Cas' eyes instantly lifted to Dean's face as his head lilted to the side as it always did when he was confused. Dean was glad he could admit to himself that he found it absolutely adorable when the angel did that.

"Dean" Cas prompted, jolting the hunter from his thoughts. Swallowing thickly, he met Castiel's eyes.

"Uh, Cas, there's something I need to tell you. Well, actually, I've been meaning to tell you for awhile now. I, uh… I have feelings for you Cas." He mentally punched himself, had he seriously just said that?

The corners of Cas' lips twitched up, "I am glad Dean. I also have feelings for you, I cherish our friendship."

Dean squeezed the hand in his to stop himself from smacking himself in the face. Of course the angel would take his words that way.

"Ok, poor choice of words on my part. Cas, what I'm trying to say is, I… I think I love you." Dean watched for a reaction to his confession, not really expecting one since it was Cas after all. So he was ecstatic when Cas' eyes got big and lit up with joy and a hint of relief. An actual smile, that reached his eyes, slowly spread across his face. That was all Dean needed to know that what Gabriel had said was true.

He found himself leaning forward and gently pressing his lips to the angel's. The shock of Dean's actions only lasted a second before Castiel was kissing him back. His free hand found its way up to the hunter's cheek and cupped it tenderly as he deepened the kiss. Dean's own hand came up and tangled itself into Cas' surprisingly soft hair as he gladly matched his enthusiasm. After several minutes of passionate kissing, Dean had to pull away and breathe. Resting his forehead against Cas' he genuinely smiled, finding himself happier than he had been in years. Since before his dad had died, if he was honest with himself.

"So I take it you feel the same way." He whispered, rubbing his nose against Cas'.

"Since I saw your soul in Hell. I… I had never thought you would ever feel the same." The angel whispered back, threading their fingers together with their still connected hands.

"And you never would have told me?" Dean asked, shocked that the angel hadn't even hinted at his feeling for him in all the time they'd known each other.

"I knew you were… Uncomfortable about the idea of homosexuality. I had not wished to spook you and ruin a chance of any relationship with you, even if it were only friendship."

Dean nodded, accepting the explanation because Cas was probably right. He reached up and cupped Cas' face, brushing his thumb across his cheek in small circles. Cas landed into the touch, a content smile on his face. Suddenly his body stiffened and he sat up straight.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked, his hunter senses jumping to attention.

"Something is wrong, in the real world. I am feeling great distress from Jensen." They were both suddenly standing.

"Gabriel!" Dean shouted, knowing that if something was going on with the platypus it would also affect Sam and Bobby.

"You two love birds ready to go?" The archangel asked, appearing between the hunter and angel. He was adorned with animals: Hilary sat on his head, Steve was clinging to his shoulder, Pete was cradled in his arms and Louis was curled around one of his feet. Dean didn't even have a chance to laugh before Cas was in the shorter angel's face.

"Take us back to Bobby's. Now!" He demanded.

"Whoa, did things not go well here?" Gabe asked, genuinely concerned.

"Something's up with the platypus, we need to get to Bobby's and find out what's going on." Dean explained, watching Gabe smirk in triumph briefly before his face became serious.

"Alrighty then, let's get the hell outta here then." He announced, snapping his fingers. Whiteness was replaced by wood floors, grungy wallpapered walls and books. Dean stumbled but was caught in Cas' arms. They exchanged a smile before their attention was turned on their surroundings. Glancing at the clock, Dean noticed that only an hour had passed here in comparison to the six they'd just spent in the Plane of Suck. So the fact that the house was eerily quiet was sending up red flags left and right.

"Sam! Bobby!" Dean shouted and got no response. Going through the ground and upper level of the house, they found nothing, not even signs of a struggle or fight.

"Gabriel, I think it would be best if you took the familiars some place safe. A demon has already made a play for Hilary and Jensen." Castiel requested.

"Sure thing bro." With that he disappeared, along with all the animals. Dean and Cas stood in silence for a moment.

"Panic room." Dean declared, moving to the basement. Creeping down the stairs, he didn't see anything lurking about. He moved up to the closed door of the panic room and banged on it.

"Sam? Bobby?" He called, hearing voices from inside the room. The spy slot slid open and Sam peered through.

"Dean!" He declared excitedly, before his eyes widened and he shouted again, but in warning this time, "Dean!"

The elder Winchester started to turn to face the threat behind him when his temple was met with a crowbar. He collapsed in an instant, hearing both Sam and Bobby yelling something before losing consciousness.

**AN: Shorter than normal, I know, but this is where I had to cut it off without going into what I'm planning for next chapter. As always, I'd love to know how everyone is bearing my attempts at slash and I hope I'm not failing miserably. I'm going to be posting an Easter special to go along with this series, so you can all look forward to that.:)**

**Also, this is officially the longest story (word count wise) that I have written. ^_^  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: So we've gotten a lot of rain the last couple days and there is now a pond in my backyard. Guess what my first thought was? 'Hey, there's a pond now. I can totally get my pet Call Duck now!' Yes I am easily amused and highly adamant about getting a pet duck. :P Onto the next chapter! Enjoy.**

Groaning loudly, Dean returned to the land of consciousness. His head was killing him. He went to reach up to rub at his temple, but found his hands tied behind his back. Eyes snapping open, he looked around wildly.

He was sitting on a chair that was facing the panic room. The sound of crackling flames drew his attention behind him where he caught sight of Cas. The angel was standing in the middle of a ring of Holy Fire looking royally pissed off.

"Awww, look who woke up!" A creepily perky voice said as a small woman with long pigtails walked in front of Dean. He eyed her suspiciously before her eyes flashed black.

"Oh, well that figures." He ground out, willing the pounding in his head to stop. The demon came up and straddled his hips, pulling head back by his hair.

"Now Dean-O, where are your manners?" She cooed before grabbing his jaw and forcing a kiss on him. When she pulled away after a moment, he licked his lips trying to figure out why this demon seemed so familiar.

"Hm, tastes like peanut butter. You've got a thing for meatsuits who like that stuff, don't you Meg?"

Meg's smirk turned into a grin worthy of the Cheshire Cat.

"Very good Dean. It's been awhile, hasn't it?" She got off him and walked up to the flames entrapping Cas, "I'd give you a hello kiss too Clarence, but after what you did the last time we met like this…" She trailed off as she stalked over to the panic room door.

The door swung open to reveal Sam holding the Colt. He aimed it at Meg's head, who only started laughing. Sam hesitated, confused by the reaction.

"Go ahead and shoot me Sammy boy. Just know that if you kill me, my friend over there will kill Dean and the angel." She tilted her head in her captives'' direction. A male demon had appeared and was holding Cas' sword to Dean's throat, a thin line of blood already trailing down from a small nick. Eyes narrowing, Sam clicked the safety on and lowered the gun.

"What do you want Meg?" He growled in defeat.

"I just want to play with that adorable little duckie of Clarence's" She said, sounding like a four year-old who got jilted out of playing with the other kid's new toy.

"She isn't here." Cas growled, drawing the demon's attention to himself, "She's on a different Plane where you will never get to her."

Meg glared at him angrily for a moment before an evil smirk lit up her face. She nodded to the demon who was still holding the blade to Dean's neck. It removed the blade, reversed it, and brought it down onto his leg. With a pained shout, he clenched his eyes shut and instinctively curled into himself as best he could with his arms tied behind him. Sam was yelling threats from the panic room while Bobby struggled to keep him in the room. Cas nearly jumped out of the ring of fire before he got to the edge and felt it singe his Grace.

"You're gonna have to figure out a way to get her here then, otherwise Dean-O's gonna start reliving hell in real-life. And it's obvious you won't let that happen."

A loud puppy growl emanated from the panic room as Jensen tried to levitate out. Sam quickly grabbed him and held him tight to his chest. The platypus struggled to get loose, but Sam's big arms made it impossible for him to go anywhere.

"What this? Another familiar? Clarence, you were holding out on me, that's not very nice. Sammy, hand over nature's freak there or Deanie gets hurt." Meg threatened as she made her way to the panic room again. The demon next to Dean pulled the blade out of his leg slowly. Dean managed to bite back to pained groan that threatened to escape his lips. The demon then cut up the center of his shirt.

"Aw c'mon, I liked this shirt." He growled, the demon just glared at him before ripping the rest of the shirt off, "Whoa! Getting a little frisky aren't ya? You didn't even buy me dinner yet."

The rest of his sarcastic comments were cut short when the demon pressed the tip of the blade into his collarbone. Without even looking at Cas, he could feel the angel's concern and anger growing. :_Huh, that's new. Since when can I feel Cas' emotions? At least I think they're Cas' emotions._: He thought the instant before the demon next to him was flying through the air. There was a clatter of hooves before he saw one of the oddest things he'd ever seen, and that's saying something, with his line of work.

Balthazar was sitting on Victor's back, his angel blade drawn and at the ready and a glass of scotch in the other. Victor was encased in strange, iridescent armor that didn't make any noise when he moved.

"Sorry we're late, took a bit longer to put the armor on than I remembered it taking." Balthazar explained, sliding off the llama's back.

"How did you not break his back?" Dean found himself asking as he stared.

"You're welcome for saving you." The blond angel said sarcastically, "He's an angelic familiar, you nitwit, that's how."

He quenched the flames surrounding Cas with a wave of his hand before turning his attention to the demons. A shot rang out and the male demon fell to the ground, dead. Before anyone could move to kill her, Meg smoked out.

"Pansy little bitch." Bobby muttered, lowering the Colt. Ha and Sam moved to help Dean, but Cas was already there. He untied his wrists before moving around to face him. Instead of placing two fingers on his forehead to heal as usual, Cas pressed his lips to Dean's. Bobby and Sam stood dumbstruck when Dean didn't fight it. In fact, they saw him lean into it and wrap his arms around the angel's shoulders. Balthazar huffed a laugh.

"And he didn't believe me when I told him Cassie was in love with him."

Sam and Bobby's eyes flashed to the blond angel before going back to Dean and Cas. Cas was helping Dean stand up. The hunter caught the other watching and shot them a glare.

"Like what you saw or what?" He grumbled, pulling the remains of his shirt off before crossing his arms over his bare chest. Cas was standing slightly behind him, so no one saw when he reached a hand forward and started trailing his fingers over the smooth skin of Dean's lower back. Try as he might, Dean couldn't stop himself from shivering at the touch. Sam cocked an eyebrow at his brother.

"It's cold down here. I'm going to go get a shirt." He said nonchalantly, leaving the basement.

"I shall go summon Gabriel and let him know it is safe to return with the familiars." Cas announced before vanishing.

The hunters and remaining angel stood in silence for a moment. Victor and Jensen hummed and growled next to them as they played.

"My brother is gay for an angel." Sam finally said calmly, not in disbelief but in surprise.

"Yeah, well it's about time they admitted it. I was getting sick of all the eye sex every time they were in a room together." Bobby muttered, "I need a drink, either of you two want something?"

"I'll take you up on that." Balthazar said, following the hunter out of the basement. Sam was left standing by himself, but not for long before Victor knocked him down and Jensen started bouncing on him.

IMMAPAGEBREAKHOWEXCITING!

Dean and Cas finally joined everyone in the living room an hour later. Sam was discussing something with Bobby while Balthazar sat in the corner sipping from his glass. Gabriel had showed up and was munching on a candy bar while using a laser pointed to entertain most of the familiars.

"What were you two up to?" He asked cheerily, waggling his eyebrows. Cas' face started to get red before he composed himself. Dean just smirked.

"I decided to take a shower n' stuff." He lied smoothly, finding an empty chair and sitting down.

"n' stuff is right." Gabe chuckled. Cas glared at him before moving to stand behind Dean. He bent down and picked Jensen up. Hilary was sitting on his head a moment later.

"So, uh, you and Cas huh?" Sam asked, in an attempt to start a conversation. To his surprise, Dean's cheeks actually tinted pink.

"Uh, yeah, I guess." He replied lamely, a small grin on his lips.

"Finally, he admits it." Sam laughed, earning a flabbergasted look from his big brother, "Oh come on, we all saw it coming. With all the eye sex and Freudian slips, how couldn't we? And then Cas all but admitted it with the whole 'profound bond' thing."

Dean continued to gape at Sam till Cas placed his hand on his shoulder. That seemed to bring him out of his shock. He smiled up at the angel before returning his attention to everyone else in the room.

"Yeah, well… Yeah."

"Smooth Dean, real smooth."

"Shut-up bitch."

"Jeeeeeeeeerk."

"Children!" Gabriel interrupted, holding his hands up, "Settle down, you can bash on each other later. In the meantime, we have a new problem. Actually, we have new problems. As in the plural kind. Anyways, I'll address the most foremost issue. Balthy here got a new familiar that he wasn't telling us about!"

The angel in question spewed liquor, "How the bloody hell did you find out about her?"

"Cause she's right here!" The Trickster shouted gleefully, a snap of his fingers had a deer-like creature bounding out of thin air. It walked straight up to Balthazar and nuzzled his cheek.

"What the hell is that thing?" Bobby asked, Sipping from his beer.

"This is exactly why I didn't want them knowing about her, Gabriel." Balthazar mumbled before addressing the rest of the room, "She's an Impala, a black Impala."

"No way!" Dean said in disbelief before cracking up in laughter, "Didn't realize you liked us THAT much Balthazar."

"I swear Winchester, I will make your life a living nightmare if you continue speaking."

"Boys! We still have another problem to discuss." Gabriel butted in, a huge grin on his face.

"What is it?" Castiel asked, his forehead crinkled with worry.

"Your new familiar bro."

"I do not have a new familiar." Cas said flatly.

"You're right, he's not 'new' per say. He's actually your first familiar if you think about it. The link has just been dormant since it was created. But seriously Cas, you're really clueless about all this bro."

"If I have another familiar, where is he then?"

"Right in front of you ya dork."

"Dean is the only one in front of me, Gabriel."

"Exactly."

There was silence in the room for several long moments. Dean was staring back and forth from Cas to Gabe, his eyes wide with confusion.

"Wait, what? Did you just imply that I'm a familiar? Cause that's what it sounded like to me." He rambled, Gabriel just continued to smile with that shit eating grin of his.

**AN: What is this, I don't even… So me thinks one more chapter in this story, then we'll get into a new installment after that. Sound good?**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Please don't hate me! I really did try to write this chapter a lot sooner. My brain took a vacation from mindless fluff for the most part after the last two episodes. And speaking of episodes; as far as this series (and my sanity) is concerned 6x19, 6x20 and probably the finale too at this rate, never happened. Oh, and before I forget; whoever finds the Monty Python and the Holy Grail reference gets cookies! So at long last, I present you with the final chapter of this story. Enjoy! :)**

Silence filled the room; even the familiars were oddly quiet. Dean sat staring at Gabriel, Castiel was staring at Dean, Sam and Bobby were gaping while their eyes shifted from Dean to Gabe to Cas. Balthazar sat in the corner sipping his scotch and watching everyone.

"Bull shit." Dean finally said, "I can't be a familiar. I'm not an animal."

"Well technically-"

"I'm not an animal!"

"Never actually said you were buddy, chillax will ya?" Gabe waited for him to visibly calm down.

"How is this possible Gabriel?" Castiel asked, looking away from Dean to his older brother finally.

"Well think about it, that whole 'Profound bond' thing that Sammy mentioned earlier isn't just cause you were getting each other all hot and bothered. It's your link, the Bond. And apparently you two actually getting hot and bothered over each other brought it out of dormancy."

"Did not need that mental image." Sam groaned from the other side of the room. Balthazar snorted in agreement.

"Dean's never done any of that freaky angel stuff that these damn familiars keep doing all the time." Bobby stated.

"Point being?..." Gabriel prompted, waving his hands in the air in a manner that asked for further explanation.

"If he's a familiar, shouldn't he be, oh I don't know, teleporting around everywhere and what not?"

"Oooooo. I see what you're getting at. I'm picking up what you're laying down. I'm getting the 411. I'm-"

"Gabe!" Sam shouted, "we get that you get it. Care to explain now?"

"You are such a party pooper Sam." Gabriel pouted.

"Get on with it!" Everyone growled, including several of the familiars who literally growled.

"Ok, jeesh, tough crowd. So everyone knows that Cas here griped his new found lover tight and raised him from perdition, right? And when he put Deanie's soul back in his body, he had to use his Grace to repair it. Buuuuuuuut, little bro was a little sloppy and left part of his Grace with him. In the form of a type of marking, like a hand print per say."

"We get that, Balthazar said something along the lines of Dean having some of Cas' Grace in him awhile ago. How does that make Dean a familiar?" Sam proded, trying to move the archangel along to a proper explanation for everyone's sake.

"Ugh, ok. Dean, like a familiar, is harboring some of Castiel's Grace. Now, typically a familiar is created when an angel and animal meet. Chosen animals essentially have an empty pocket of sorts in their souls that are just waiting for an angel's Grace to fill it. It's a totally random selection, so Don't ask me for any details, I honestly don't know how it works. Dead never shared that knowledge with anyone. All I know is that this link doesn't exist in humans, since their souls are whole from the get-go. So yeah."

"Soooo, what you're saying is that when Cas saved me from hell, he accidently left part of his Grace in me? And that shouldn't have happened cause I'm human and therefore my soul is whole." Dean clarified.

"Well will you look at that, he can be smarter than he looks! Let's give him a round of applause." Gabe teased, with a quick series of claps before he conjured a licorice rope and started nibbling on it. Cas' hand on his shoulder stopped the hunter from launching himself at the Trickster.

"If that were the case Gabriel, I would have been able to sense my Grace within Dean." The younger angel stated with a stern look.

"Did I not just say something about it being dormant? Besides, when it comes to familiars, even your own, you have to look deep for it and you have to know to look for it before you can sense it. That's pretty much familiar 101 bro. And who, Dean-O, why so brooding over there all of a sudden?"

"I was just thinking about something."

"Did it hurt?" Balthazar jibbed. Dean did the grown-up thing and ignored the snooty angel and shared his thoughts instead.

"When we were hunting the Horsemen, Famine said that part of me was left in the Pit. And if that was true, then that's probably the reason why part of Cas' Grace is in me, it repaired some of my soul as well as my body."

"That… Actually makes a lot of sense. Dean, you're starting to worry me." Sam interrupted, mild concern plastered on his face.

"Why? Cause he's actually getting it?" Balthazar and Gabriel say at the same time. A quick glare was exchanged before both of them started cracking up.

"What? No!"

"Then what is it Sam? Cause I'm over here trying to wrap my head around what happened- is happening." Dean asked aggressively.

"I know, I'm not trying to say anything insulting here. What I mean is, it's just that you were starting to flip out before over being called a familiar not twenty minutes ago and now you seem almost fine with it. I know you man, and you do not calm down or accept shit like this that fast. This isn't like you, at all. So you can see why I might be concerned her."

"He's right, ya know. You don't take something this big in stride boy." Bobby said in agreement.

"Hm, now that you mention it, I've started feeling a lot calmer than I was…" Trailing off, Dean glanced up at Cas, "You're doing some crazy angel mojo thing, aren't you?" He demanded.

"If I was able to control your emotions like this with just my Grace, I would have started doing it a long time ago. I am merely projecting tranquility to you right now, through our link, so as that you may think through all of this rationally. Especially since you have the tendency of letting your anger cloud your thoughts in situations like this. And my being able to do this proves that Gabriel is right, the link I have with you is starting to feel similar to the ones I share with Hilary and Jensen." Cas explained seriously.

There was a moment of silence as everyone tried to work out what all of it meant.

"Well, all of this has been very interesting and what not. And no offense, but I'm starting to get a little bored of all of you, so ciao!" With a mock salute Balthazar, Victor and the Impala vanished.

"Did- did he just call me boring?" Gabe asked in shock. In an instant he was on his feet, arms crossed and familiars at his feet, "Challenge accepted. I gotta go now, so you kids have fun and don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

A snap of the fingers and the Trickster and his companions were gone. The hunters and remaining angel didn't say or do anything for a few minutes. The quiet was broken when Hilary took off flying and calling. Bobby got to his feet with a loud groan and stretched.

"Well, as exciting as today has been, I still have some work to do in the yard. Sam, come give me a hand." He said as he walked out of the room. Sam reluctantly followed, understanding what Bobby and Hilary were doing. When they left the room, Hilary finally quieted down and landed on the desk.

"Why do you think Sam and Bobby left?" Cas asked, head tilted to the side as he moved to stand in front of Dean.

"Heh, I think it was partly cause of Hilary's little spaz out. But they apparently think we need some alone time to talk about stuff." He offered, "And they're right, we do need to talk about what we're gonna do Cas."

"I don't understand."

"Well, you and me, we're kinda in a relationship now. We gotta figure out how we're gonna make it work. Cause you can't go and disappear for weeks at a time without so much as a phone call. It'll drive me crazy, not knowing if you're alright or not. Cause I realize that you're not going to be able to stay here all the time, that you need to be in Heaven fighting that damn war. And it's not like I've been able to wrap my head around _that_ yet and Gabriel just had to dump this familiar crap on us too. What are we supposed to do about that even?" Dean rambled before pausing, a look of scrutiny passing on his face, "Wow. I so did not realize how chick flicky that sounded until I said it out loud."

Castiel just gave him that small, soft smile of his, "It's fine Dean. Even though I know I must return to Heaven, I am more reluctant to than ever." He walked up to Dean's chair and sat on the arm of it, "However, since you are now one of my Familiars, I feel that it would be more beneficial to the war effort right now if I stayed for a time to delve into the advantages our Bond can yield. Balthazar can handle the troops till I can return."

Dean couldn't help but chuckle at the angel's justification and pulled him down into his lap, "You could have just said you're going to use this whole familiar thing as an excuse to spend more time with me. You don't have to sell the idea to me."

"But that is what I said." Cas' face scrunched up in something akin to confusion with a hint of a pout. Dean smiled fondly at him and leaned in for a kiss. Pulling back, he motioned for Cas to get up before he stood up himself and stretched.

"Gah. I need a beer after everything today. Actually, whiskey might be a better option." He said as he started walking to the kitchen.

"We should discuss what we're going to do with Sam and Bobby." The angel stated suddenly. Dean stopped and turned back to look at him questioningly.

"It would be best if you and I were on our own together until we are able to assess what you will be capable of." Cas continued, a sly grin on his face.

"You sly dog. Alright, sounds like a plan. We'll sit them down and figure something out later." Dean was about to return to his quest for alcohol but stopped, "Does this mean I get to learn how to teleport?"

Cas actually rolled his eyes at that and instead of answering he picked Hilary up and started stroking her feathers while Jensen nibbled at his pants leg. Smiling and shaking his head, Dean walked into the kitchen. After finding some Jack and taking a shot of it, he leaned back against a counter and let himself start daydreaming about the advantages of taking an angelic road trip without Sam. His little brother was going to be pissed about being left behind, of course, but really it would probably be best if he wasn't around. And not just because of Cas' reasoning either, no, it was more along the lines of saving his brother from having to go to therapy for the rest of his life.

**AN: And so ends The Problem with Pets! :D I would just like to take a moment to thank everyone who's reviewed, favorited and alterted; you guys are awesome! I hope everyone enjoyed it and I was able to make you smile at least once or twice. I'll leave an update when I start the next part, so keep an eye out for that. **


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